A walk around the *vila vermella*, from the gateway to the wall

What it is

Prades, 50 km from Tarragona, is the Vila Vermella, the red village: many of its buildings are made with the reddish sandstone of the area, which gives the village its colour. This walk is route 1 of the fountains proposed by the Town Council: a 1.1 km circular walk, with only 16 m of ascent, that tours the old town from gateway to wall. It takes an unhurried hour, free and self-guided.

The centre is declared a historic ensemble. Its triangular shape is set by the wall, and the square, the church, the castle and the walls were, from the Middle Ages, the elements that organised the town. Prades was a market town, with a weekly market documented since 1200, and the seat of the Counts of Prades.

The route step by step

1. The square gateway and the boundary cross. The cross has welcomed those arriving since the 13th century. Before going in, look at the remains of wall fused with the houses and the gateway with large voussoirs and its machicolation above.
2. The Plaça Major and the Renaissance fountain. Wide and arcaded, it is the heart of the village. In the centre, the red-stone fountain in the shape of a globe with four bronze spouts facing the cardinal points, the symbol of Prades.
3. The church of Santa Maria la Major. The first document that mentions it is a bull of Pope Celestine III from 1194. It is a building in transition from Romanesque to Gothic, with a Renaissance façade. Look at the porta falsa, the Romanesque doorway on the left side, which was the main entrance.
4. Carrer Major, with notable doorways on some houses.
5. Plaça de la Pau, also called Plaça dels Alls (garlic), because the market was held there, or Plaça de l’Ou (egg), because of its shape. It has a push-button fountain that gushes from a rock about two metres high.
6. The Arc de Ponos, a Gothic gateway opened to improve access to the town.
7. The Costa del Castell, the street with the most red stone per square metre in the village.
8. The remains of the castle and the castle church of Sant Miquel. Few remains are left. It was the seat of the Counts of Prades until the chancery moved to the castle of Falset. Margarida de Prades, of this lineage, married King Martin the Humane.
9. Plaça dels Infants, with the old Town Hall and a fountain; it used to be the school playground.
10. El Planet del Pont. The house to the right of the bridge is the oldest in the town, from the 13th century, built on the ashlars of the wall.
11. The Font d’en Grau park, with a play area, a menhir-shaped fountain and the natural spring to which medicinal properties are attributed, next to the municipal swimming pools.
12. The defence tower and the wall. You can still follow almost the whole perimeter of the fortified enclosure.

Information and map

Start at the tourist office, at Carrer Muralla, 3, first floor, which is also the Centre d’Interpretació de les Muntanyes de Prades. There you can get the 2026 cultural route map. It is open Monday to Friday mornings, until 15:00, Tuesday until 16:30, Saturday from 9:00 to 14:00 and from 16:00 to 18:00, and Sundays and public holidays from 9:00 to 14:00. Telephone 977 868 302.

Getting there and parking

Prades is 50 km from Tarragona along mountain roads. Leave your car outside the old town and walk in: it is small and has narrow streets. The coach stops at Plaça de Sant Roc, with few timetables; check the coach and taxi stop.

With children and with a dog

It is a short, flat walk for its setting, with fountains in every square and the Font d’en Grau park to end up playing. With a pushchair, the Plaça Major and the main streets are fine; on the Costa del Castell, the cobbles and the slope make it difficult. Dogs can come, on a lead.